Æthelhere I of New Anglia
Æthelhere I of New Anglia (b. 1817,d. 1862) was the eight King of the Kingdom of New Anglia 1848-1862. He was the third born son of King Æthelred II of New Anglia. He married Aethelthryth (b. 1808, d. 1865) and had no issue. He was formaly made Heir to the throne by his childless elder brother, Offa I of New Anglia a few days before the latters death, by-passing the second-born Ecgric. Immediately upon his ascension, he had to deal with the Supreme Senate petitioning very strongly for the removal of Everard Croft from the position of Prime Minister of New Anglia, as well as removing Almund Wren from the position of head of the Royal Office. Supreme Senate Chairman Alphege Gerry suggested Dudd Mansel, the most vocal opponent to both Croft's semi-unconstitutional excercise of Royal Powers prior to 1847, and of Almund Wren's supposed interference to secure positions of Goverment to Riminian Christians, as a prime candidate to replace Croft. The king instead wished to appoint Supreme Senate Vice Chairman Hamo Noble to the office, however Noble refused due to pressure from the Senate. During this time Croft was formaly still Prime Minister, however most of his ministers either stepped down from their posts or refused his summons and thusly Croft only managed to summon the Goverment into session twice, on June 2nd 1848, where most attended, and February 3rd 1849 when only two members of his cabinet heeded his summons. Also both the Supreme Senate and the South Montgomery state legislature refused to communicate with him or afford him the honours legaly provided for a sitting Prime Minister. The Commonwealth of Waterloo communicated with him sparingly, until August 1st when a unanimous decision by the the Senate of Waterloo was passed to disregard Croft and consider the office of Prime Minister vacant, and only communicate directly with the King (as legislature refused to formaly adress any particular letter or note to Wren, still formaly chairman of the Royal Office), a move that was latter approved by the House of Peers of Waterloo. Only the Commonwealth of Blount maintained formal communication with Croft until the apointment of his successor, but insisted on adressing Croft as "Interim Prime Minister". Croft formaly protested to the king about his treatment from the states, but king Æthelhere, not wanting to divert too much of the political antipathy targeted at Croft onto himself, refused to meet with him. Only after repeated pleas did the king agree to an informal, secret meeting, held on July 5th 1848. The King proposed to Croft that his only course of action at that point was to step down, because he had no intention of entrusting him with leading a goverment, especialy considering how both the state legislatures and central legislature alike used him as a scapegoat to vindicate whatever ills befell them during the rule of his predecessor, or more specificaly under the quasi-rule of Queen Hamia. Many were still opposed to the "Empowerment Act" of 1845, wishing it to be repealed. The king was leaning towards repealing it as well, but chose not to due to it possibly setting a precedence or repealing the entierity of akk legal amendments, laws and decrees passed between 1845 and 1848, which could result in lengthy court disputes between civilians, institutions and the various states and could potentialy lead to a wholesale campaign agains the Riminian Catholic elements and even a civil war. The king proclaimed that he would gladly remove Croft from office at once, however that would force him to appoint Mansel pretty much without contest, and he was still hoping to persuade Hamo Noble to take up the office in exchange for also formaly quiting his seat in the Supreme Senate, for which he would compensate Noble by both granting him a hereditary peerage and making him a Senator-Nominee in one of the Provinces. The King also stated that should Croft agree to step down without problems he would also be awarded with the granting of a Peerage. He stated he already had a plan to quell the people's anger by removing Wren from office and replacing him with Ane Barnston. Croft politely refused the King's plans, saying that he would be capable of managing a goverment if the King stepped up in his favour, as there were many amendments and legal changes he wished to make that were still not complete. The King then told Croft that until he would change his mind and "see reason" he had no intention of meeting up with him again, or communicating in any way, aside from "the bare essentials". In the next months, tensions were raised further when, though the King removed Wren from office on July 17th 1848, he refused to remove Wren's associate and manager of the Royal Office, Aart Pellham, also a noted Riminian Christian activist. The king kept the position of Chairman of the office vacant shortly after Ane Barnston's sudden death on July 25th, however Pellham was still in charge of managing the entiere office as if he had already been apointed to the position. The Supreme Senate formaly requested the king to remove Pellham as a "dangerous element", the removal of Wren's immunity to prosecution by Royal Decree and the apointmet of a new, "devout Wodenist" to the office "so long usurped by subversive, heathen elements". In response to this Æthelhere called an "emergency" meeting of the Supreme Council on July 30th to formaly adress the issue in person. He formaly made a speach in which he said that "no disrespect to the Managers and Secretaries of the Royal Office, I find no one employed therein at this moment who, in my eyes, holds the necessary qualification to be made Chairman of the office, regardless of their faith." He made an appeal to the Supreme Senate to nominate three candidates to the office themselves by majority vote, from which he would chose the next Chairman, "provided he is chosen with full view of his capabilities and not simply due to his political alignment". This turn of events lead to a month long, feverish discussion in the Supreme Senate, where as many as twelve possible candidates appeared, each supported by an ever shifting coalition of senators. However the South Montgomery state legislature protested, saying that if the King is to chose a new Chairman of the Royal Office from a variety of candidates provided for him by the elected representatives of the nation, then each state's legislature should be permited to bring forth a single candidate, "which also includes the Supreme Senate". The King refused, stating that the position of Chairman of the Royal Office is a post of importance for the kingdom as a whole, and so was above mere "state interest". Finaly on September 4th 1848 the Supreme Senate presented the King with three candidates for the office, Theodred Godeley, Siward Vines and Deorfwulf Mudie. Æthelhere chose Deorfwulf Mudie as Chairman and surprisingly created the office of Vice Chairman of the Royal Office and appointed Vines to it. Theodred Godeley, whom the king stated was "personaly incompatible with the office due to his world views", protested the act as unconstitutional, however the Supreme Senate voted overwhelmingly to accept the creation of this new office and it's new holder. On September 14th 1848 Mudie anounced he would remove Pellham from office, and the King agreed, granting Pellham a Peerage, making him Earl of West Croydon. Between 1849 and 1851 the King presented his vision of reform for the "Re-Education Reservations" of the indigieous people of the North New World, issuing a moratorium on their further expansions until 1853. In 1854 he made a public speech supporting Eadnoth Lansdown as Prime Minister, averting a constitutional crisis. However in 1856 Lansdown stepped down due to ill health and the King was forced to appoint Dudd Mansel, against his own wishes, as the parliament pressured him near-unanimously into appointing him. Æthelhere then spent the next four years trying to quel Mansel's severe anti Riminian Catholic tendencies, and refused to sign several discriminatory bills. This resulted in a heated one year long govermental lockdown which forced the king to temporarily abdicate his executive powers and go into rehabilitation, which finaly persuaded Parliament to sack Mansel and replace him with the King's candidate, Herfast Glynne, who assumed regency of the Kingdom for the next two years. The King's health began detoriating towards the end of 1861, which forced Parliament to nominate Æthelhere's elder brother Ecgric as Crown Prince. Æthelhere objected, but was unable to persuade parliament to change it's mind. He died two days after suddenly falling into a comma, on 14th March 1862. He was succeeded by his elder brother Ecgric I of New Anglia.